Media bias never ceases to amaze me with the impact it has on viewers. I have come to believe we’re all lemmings of one form or another, or one of the proverbial Buffaloes that follows the herd over the cliff. Put it on TV, let it come from a sports announcer, read it in a paper, we believe it. If you were to listen to ESPN, FoxSports, or other media outlets, athletes like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are great quarterbacks, yet Ben Roethlisberger has to fight just to get into the discussion.

In addition, the media perpetuates labels. Remember when Ben went 13-0 as a rookie? And the announcers used the phrase “he manages the game”? Wrongfully, it’s stuck with him, despite a 32 TD, 104.1 passer rating season one year ago and two Super Bowl titles in five yars. Some of my other favorites are how Ben’s play isn’t “pretty” or it is “blue collar.”

After winning his second Super Bowl title this past February, there has finally been some collective, positive national media attention paid to Ben’s total work of effort to date. Take for instance Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post and ESPN: “If I had to win a game to save my own life I'd take Roethlisberger over everybody who played in the NFL this season, and that includes everybody named Manning. It's difficult to understand why the praise is so grudging.” - Big Ben Strikes Again - Michael Wilbon

Michael, I’ll tell you why the praise is so grudging. We’re lemmings, and too few of the media see Ben as the truly great Quarterback he’s become - a future Hall of Fame QB, based on his current trajectory and accumulated stats. And all one has to do is compare him with current, and future Hall of Fame quarterbacks to see that at this stage in his career, he’s either equal to, or better than most of them.

When you look at the following statistical comparisons, Ben fits right into the quarterback Hall of Fame crowd. Following are comparisons of Ben to Troy Aikman, John Elway, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Dan Marino. Albeit not a comparison to all QBs in the Hall, it does provide a modern-era sampling of some of the best QBs the NFL has known. Ben has played for 5 seasons, and as such I’m using the first 5 seasons of their respective careers as a point of comparison to level set the comparison.

REGULAR SEASON STATISTICAL COMPARISONS

Games Won

No QB in NFL history has won more games in his first five seasons than Ben Roethlisberger.

I find this stat particularly interesting. Pittsburgh is historically a run first offense, yet Ben is ranked third in passing yardage among these QBs. His passing attempts are lower than every QB on the list save for Montana, yet he’s ranked third in overall yardage. See Yards/Attempt and Yards/Completion below.

In the scoring category, Ben is again ranked third among these Hall of Fame quarterbacks with 101 TDs thrown in his first five seasons. Equally as interesting is that his TD% is 5.3%, second on the list only to Dan Marino.

Interceptions are an area where Ben is often criticized. Yet in this comparison of Hall of Fame quarterbacks, he is ranked fourth (not last), and threw 8, 11, and 31 fewer interceptions in his first 5 seasons as compared to Elway, Marino, and Manning, respectively. Also, it’s interesting to note that Peyton Manning had an interception percentage of 3.5 as compared to Ben’s 3.6.

This is the other common area of critique when it comes to Ben, his sack numbers. So many factors contribute to this number – OL performance, the health of the running back corps, the QB play, his awareness of the pocket, strength of schedule, etc. Ben’s sack numbers have increased steadily over the past five seasons as follows – 30, 23, 46, 47, and 46. The Steelers offensive line has also diminished in skill and experience along the same five year curve and has contributed to the rise in sacks. Last year’s running back corps was decimated most of the season. And yes, “he may hold the ball too long,” but that is also his strength in making big plays (see yards/completion, yards/attempt, yardage, TDs, etc).

When you consider all of these statistical categories, there is no question Ben belongs with this group. Of the nine categories, Ben finishes first two times, second once, thired four times, fourth once, and seventh (last) only once. Clearly Ben’s numbers are better than average across the board against this group of exceptional peers.

POST SEASON COMPARISONS

Hall of Fame quarterbacks are expected to lead their teams to the playoffs, and ultimately to championships. We all know that unless a QB is an exceptional QB, like Dan Marino, not having Super Bowl titles is a big detractor to Hall of Fame consideration. In comparing the list of Hall of Fame QBs and their postseason performances, Ben again rises to the top.

Playoff Games Played

Ben leads the list in terms of playoff games played by the end of year five.

Of these six statistical categories, Ben again proves to make himself at home with this elite list of QBs. He ranks first again twice, second twice, third once, fourth twice, and fifth once. Clearly he belongs in the same discussion with these other quarterbacks.

It's almost silly at this point the lack of respcet Ben receives by fans and the media alike. There's no question, he's earned the respect that he's been missing. One of the silliest notions fans mutter is that Ben is great only because of the Steelers defense. True, the Steelers have had a great defense, but did any of them throw the balls that Ben threw? No one questioned Montana's supporting cast, or Brady's, or Aikman's - all of whom were necessary to getting their teams to Super Bowl victories. Ben, as you consider the stats laid out here, is as good a passer (or better) as any of these Hall of Fame quarterbacks at this point in his career.

In fact, based on these numbers alone, you can make the argument that in his first five years, Ben has surpassed the first five year output of Brady in many ways, and certainly all-around has outperformed Peyton's first five years.

Let the media treat the quarterbacks equally and fairly. Clearly Brady and manning were pre-ordained to be loved. And for some reasons, Ben was destined to be questioned (as Bradshaw was before him). But thankfully, numbers do not lie. Anyone with an objective eye who looks at Ben's performance as compared to these Hall of Fame quarterbacks cannot argue that he doesn't belong among the elite at this point in his young, illustrious career.

Great article. You certainly did your research. It's true that Ben doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Unfortunately, there
isn't a whole lot we can do about it. I suppose we'll just have
just let Ben show them how good he is...

Great article. You certainly did your research. It's true that Ben doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Unfortunately, there
isn't a whole lot we can do about it. I suppose we'll just have
just let Ben show them how good he is...

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After reading the idiotic threads over the past couple of weeks, I ask the question - "Who is worse...Steeler fans or Eagles fans?" Keep in mind that Eagle fans do not know what it's like to win a SB much less 6 and 2 this decade.